Alison Hawtin qualified as an art therapist in 1994. She has worked as an NHS art therapist in Cambridgeshire Learning Disability Partnership Teams, and is a specialist lecturer, mentor supervisor and private practitioner. She is particularly interested in the nonverbal aspects of art therapy, general arts/creativity and wellbeing, bodywork expressions and collaborative work. A big thank you to Alison for taking the time out to speak to Art Nouveau about her work and how she sees Art Therapy functioning in the future. Alison is another working practitioner that reached out to us after posting on the International Art Therapy Facebook page. Here are Alison’s insights:

Tell me a little about your career. How and why did you become involved in art therapy?

I tried nurse training, the teacher training and then did my Art and Social Context Degree where I found out about Art Therapy – Seemed like the perfect amalgam of all I had been seeking

What are your key responsibilities as an art therapist?

To evaluate, assess, plan and implement individual and group art therapy appropriate to the service in which I work.

Are there any particular mediums that you use the most, or is that entirely up to the client?

It is up to the client within reason, because I will invite certain media, retain certain media (on safety of emotionally overwhelming grounds) and direct certain media depending on what we are looking to achieve and what stage of therapy we are at.

How can art therapy improve an individual’s self esteem?

The nature of art making involves implicit decision making, a level of confidence to begin to make a mark/touch a medium, to have an observer in the therapist, to develop trust in the therapist, themselves and the media, being their own observer and artist interchangeably, problem-solving, imagination, all enhance a sense of self – therapy values and holds this self and so it grows esteem.

How do you think art therapy has helped individuals with behavioural or LD issues more specifically?

This is too vast to say – they are all the people I have worked within 18 years so… basically they are people and all people can benefit from Art Therapy. Fundamentally it is the person-centeredness in real meaning of the worlds that holds all change potential. Through this valuing of the person, the triangle of relationships in Art Therapy and the implicit mirroring and practicing of bigger emotional and life events in the small moments of the therapy and art making process, people can grow, literally, new neural pathways.

What has been your greatest success and biggest setback in your career so far?

Interesting questions. Greatest success? Knowing my work has contributed within a multi-disciplinary team to helping people who would otherwise have remained in locked/secure settings or unhappily locked inside themselves. To be heard, express themselves in a non-threatening and emotion-appropriate manner and learn to grow and learn toleration of frustration enough to survive. To evolve into happy independent lives.

Greatest setback? The changes in the organisations I work within (NHS and social services) that mean people are no longer really valued, given the tools to do their jobs really well, or kindness which seem to be a key requirement in us all.

Why is it important for the distinction between art therapy and therapeutic art making to remain clear?

It is on a spectrum from art making/education whereby taught skills and product are key, through to therapeutic artmaking where people gain implicitly from engaging in their own process during art and its healing qualities do its work, through to supported Art Therapy where the triad is key and the person needs the witnessing inherent in the therapist’s presence and their knowledge and skill in seeking/knowing the process of art making and how it is explaining/expressing where the person is at and how best to support/facilitate/accompany them on their internal journey of self-development and awareness.

There is a place for everyone and we should be referring in and out of each other’s specialism. I was a community artist before an art therapist and I know there were areas I would not go or encourage people to go because I was not skilled to deal with it with them, nor was it the purpose of the project. Art Therapy is absolutely about the process not the product. With some people, the product becomes more important and they may even choose to exhibit or go on and train, but this is person specific and therapeutically defined within the therapy.

How do you see art therapy evolving in the future?

Hmmm. I think on the one hand it is being forced to get stricter, more defined, shorter term, and to some degree, more intellectual/cognitive. I also think it is under pressure to be more nameable and to explain the inexplicable.

On the other hand, I think there will be those who will fight for the opposite of these aspects – upholding its inherent healing qualities, the need for spontaneity, person-centered decision making and design of therapy, treasuring the inexplicability.

Art Therapy rooms are few and far between nowadays – it’s all about portability, but this is a price to pay that will show up. The vulnerable and complexly damaged/traumatised need the symbolism and safety implicit in a designated creative space that borrowed rooms and offices cannot convey. It diminishes the breadth of Art Therapy provisions that can be created and offered. This is why I am leaving the big organisations as an employee. I need to be the best clinician I can be within my own parameters and not trying to be a mediocre one within theirs.

Talha reached out to Art Nouveau Therapy after we posted about our cause on the International Art Therapy Group Facebook page. Talha Al-Ali is originally from Tulkarem City, Palestine, but now bases himself in Amman Jordan. He holds a Bacehlor Degree in Psychology and Counseling and a Masters Degree with the Community of Mental Health. He has over 10 years experience in theatre (writing, acting, directing and holding training sessions) as well as seven years experience in composing and producing hip hop music for theatre. This has given Talha the ability to use art and expressive therapies more professionally.

Talha started using expressive therapies with children and adolescents in 2008. He mainly worked with traumatised children, children that had dropped out of school, child labour, children of martyrs, teenagers with social difficulties and juveniles in prison.

He generously shared some insights into his work with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Jordan. In October of 2014, MSF launched a mental health programme for children showing signs of distress from war and displacement and there were 351 consultations by the end of the year.

Talha was kind enough to send us materials produced by Terre des Hommes. This organization works all over the world for children, their rights and equitable development. They are an international children’s rights charitable humanitarian umbrella organization. Other independent organisations are in Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Syria.

TDH created a manual for practitioners titled ‘Working with children and their environment – Manual of psychosocialskills.’ One of the most interesting components of the manual is the training modules for a ‘psychosocial approach.’ This includes managing oneself, one’s relationships with others and in groups. The Personal Skills section discusses perception and action, resilience and resources of the person, managing emotions and feedback and self-knowledge. The modules include a range of role-playing, group activities such as Lifeline, Protection and Risk Factors and Experience Sharing amongst the group of children. Similar stages are demonstrated in different strands of Art Therapy in Australia. You can enrol your child in similar workshops through this link: artandplaytherapytraining.com.au

Here are some words from Talha himself:

“From my experience in psychotherapy, I found that expressive therapies are extremely important with traumatized children and children with emotional problems, because sometimes expressing can be all what they needed, where all PTSD symptoms decreased after using expressive therapies. It could also be because children’s resilience in such situation is higher than adults as I also noticed in practice. Also, expressive therapies give them the tools to express and speak up as they can’t verbalize their thoughts and emotions mostly, which is similar to children dealing with learning or physical disabilities. Plus, some practices give them more awareness toward themselves and others, more self-conceptualization and can give them more insight about what they need, on the same hand they feel more accepted and it increase their sense of belonging especially when using music, dance/movement, and when using drama.

I also used expressive methods used in expressive therapies for educational reasons where I used and still using drawing and painting as a tool of non-formal education programs. I used drama for modeling and teaching wanted morals and positive values as well along with storytelling.”

Talha recently started to work for “Doctors Without Borders France” as a Responsible of the Education Program and a Pediatric Counselor. He uses informal education programs that involves drama and modeling that teaches morals and positive values through storytelling. These methods are used to treat the child’s symptoms of isolation and frustration, which children with learning disabilities can relate to.

Talha’s work demonstrates that art therapy covers many different avenues and if the more traditional techniques of painting and drawing do not suit your child or their situation, there are other options available for them to express themselves.

Therapy Focus is a not-for-profit organisation based in Western Australia. It has been open since 1998 and is now Australia’s leading providers of professional therapy services. They are also WA’s largest disability service provider and they help over 2,000 adults and children with a range of learning and physical disabilities.

Their staff include health registered physiotherapists, psychologists, speech pathologists and social workers. Therapy programs are in place to help schools, families and carers help their loved ones to reach their full potential.

The organisation has a Parent Reference Group that provides Therapy Focus with realistic and incredibly valuable perspectives regarding the implementation, planning and delivery of services. You can view and read about their group members contributions here: therapyfocus.org.au

Therapy Focus runs an annual state-wide school art activity called Help a Child Grow Art Competition. This program aims to educated children about disability and to facilitate the inclusion, understanding and acceptance of children with special needs.

A book was launched last month that celebrates the contributions of winning participants and their schools. Winners receive a framed copy of their original artwork and a prize pack curated by Therapy Focus’ sponsors. You can purchase this year’s book from Therapy Focus’ online store: therapyfocus.org.au/shop/

For more information about this wonderful organisation, visit their website: therapyfocus.org.au

Kate Lacour is an Art Therapist based in New Orleans and is committed to following developments in the field of creative arts by and for those with Autism. Here are some of her thoughts and findings on how Art Therapy is an engaging and encouraging treatment for children with Autism.

With Autism rates on the rise in Australia, new treatments such as Art Therapy are helping children deal with the challenges they face.

Autism is a neurological condition present at birth, whose precise cause is as yet unknown. The symptoms of Autism include repetitive or compulsive behaviours, social impairment, problems with communication and trouble processing sensory information:

The most popular treatment of recent years is Behaviour Modification Therapy, which aims at shaping behaviours through a system of rewards and consequences. An alternative treatment that is gaining traction is Art Therapy.

One of the hallmarks of Autism is impaired communication. Verbal self-expression and language is often difficult. Art offers a way for people who have trouble “speaking their mind” with words to express themselves directly, without words. People with Autism are often highly visual thinkers, and many report that they “think in pictures.”

Art Therapy can also be a facilitator in forming connections with peers. Cooperation, turn-taking, respecting differences and other social skills can all be practiced in an enjoyable, natural setting. People with Autism may also struggle to comprehend other people’s perspectives; looking at a peer’s art work offers a concrete way to “see” another person’s point of view.

The Art Room program, which started in 2002, is aimed at children between the ages of 5-16 who have been identified as needing emotional and behavioural support by their teachers.

There are currently nine Art Room programs in UK schools. More than 10,000 children have been through the Art Program since its inception.

“It works closely with schools to support children within the school environment and help them find creative ways to bolster their self-esteem,” said Melissa Cortina, a consultant research psychologist with The Art Room.

In a study published in the journal The Arts in Psychotherapy, researchers found that children can achieve and learn through art.

The purpose and goal of the program is to help children to re-engage with their education. The Art Room works with the children on their therapy and social skills.

For the new study, Cortina and colleague Mina Fazel of Oxford University analyzed questionnaires filled out by 169 students in the program and their teachers before and after the 2012-2013 school year. Overall that year, more than 1,000 kids from 13 feeder schools attended The Art Room.

Based on teacher responses, students improved in all areas. There was a 37 percent reduction in a topic called Total Difficulties, a 41 percent reduction in emotional problems, a 15 percent reduction in conduct problems, a 33 percent reduction in hyperactivity, a 41 percent reduction in problems with classmates and a 24 percent improvement in social behavior.

On the children’s part, there was a notable drop in depression symptoms. Before the program, 16 students (22 percent) had been classified as depressed. After the program, less than 4 percent qualified as depressed.

The Art Room intervention is not something that parents can easily duplicate at home, however “it is certainly possible for parents to adopt some of the techniques used in The Art Room for home, such as creating a positive, support environment that promotes creativity,” Cortina said.

Thanks to Larry B. Silver, here is an outline of terms and concepts in perspective.

Input Disabilities:

Information arrives at the brain as impulses, transmitted along neurons, primarily from our eyes – called visual input – and from our ears – called auditory input. This input process takes place in the brain. This central input process of seeing, or hearing, or perceiving one’s environment is referred to as “perception.”

Visual Perception Disabilities:

Children may have difficulty in organising the position and shape of what he or she sees. Input may be perceived with letters reversed or rotated – an e may look like a 9; and E might look like a W or a 3, or an M. This confusion of input shows up almost immediately when the child begins to read, write or to copy letters or designs.

Judging distance is another visual perceptual task which can go awry. A child may misjudge depth, bump into thinks, fall off chairs or knock their food and drink.

Auditory Perceptual Disabilities:

Children who have difficulty distinguishing subtle differences in sounds will misunderstand what someone is saying and respond incorrectly. Words that sound alike are often confused – blue and blew or ball and bell.

Some children have difficulty with auditory figure-ground and cannot process sound input as fast as expected. It is called “auditory lag.”

Integration Disabilities:

Once the information coming into the brain is registered, it has to be understood. It is all about inferring meaning from the context in which a word is used, both a general meaning and a specific meaning. For example, the dog and your dog have very different meanings. The ability to draw general applications from specific words to attach subtle shading to basic meanings of words is referred to as “abstract thinking.”

Abstraction Disabilities:

Once information is recorded in the brain and laced in the right sequence, one must be able to infer meaning. Most learning disabled children have only minor difficulties in this area. Abstraction – the ability to derive the correct general meaning from a particular word or symbol – is a very basic intellectual task.

Short-term memory is the process by which you hold on to information as long as you are concentrating on it. Long-term memory refers to the process by which you can store information that you have repeated often enough. If your child has a memory disability, it is most likely a short-term one. A short-term memory disability can occur with information learned through what one sees – visual short-term memory disability – or with information learned through what one hears – auditory short-term memory disability. Often the two are combined.

Output Disabilities:

Information comes out of the brain either by the means of works – language output – or through muscle activity, such as writing, drawing – motor output. A child or adolescent may have a language disability or motor disability.

Language Disability:

Two forms of language are used in communication, spontaneous language and demand language. Spontaneous language is used in situations where you initiate whatever is said. This situation contains the luxury of choosing the subject and taking the time to organise your thoughts.

Children with specific language disability usually have no difficulty with spontaneous language. They do, however, often have issues with demand language. A young child may initiate all kinds of conversation, but when they are put into a situation that demands a response, the child may seem confused.

Motor Disabilities:

If a child has difficulty using large muscle groups, this is called a gross motor disability. Difficulty in performing tasks that require many muscles to work together in an integrated way is a fine motor disability,

The most common form of fine motor disability shows up when the child begins to write. The problem lies in an inability to get the many muscles in the dominant hand to work together as a team. Children and adolescents with this “written language” disability have slow and poor handwriting. A typical expression of this problem is, “My hand doesn’t work as fast as my head is thinking.”

When a child has a visual perceptual problem, the brain, which has incorrectly recorded or processed information, will probably misinform the muscles during activities that require eye-hand coordination. This is referred to as a visual motor disability.

Art Therapy offers the creative and resilient child an opportunity to communicate their worries, questions, and their hopes in a symbolic form. This creates a sense of confidence and accomplishment. A child’s artwork is a record of problems met and solved and a symbol of goals reached.

Creating and working with art for children means that they learn more about themselves and helps them to feel more competent. More often than not, children come to their first session expecting to “mess up.” They are taught to celebrate the diversity of their work in comparison to other children and their uniqueness. This helps to boost their self-esteem and create a more positive sense of self.

Problems in real life are often paralleled during the art marking process. Working through these issues in the context of a creative outlet means that mistakes can be salvaged and problem-solving skills can be developed. This gives children a sense of strength and pride when goals have been successfully met. The ability to control impulse and increase tolerance to frustration is the key to this therapy.

It can offer children a safe place to discuss difficult feelings through a graphic medium. It provides a vehicle for uncomfortable or disruptive emotions to be discovered and gives the child a vehicle to focus and explore this emotions through art. There is no fear of retaliation or guilt experienced by a child visualising their frustration on paper, rather than on those around them.

Art therapy is less about the finished product, and more focused on the creative process. Artistic capability is never judged, just like individuals are not judged during a therapy session. It is important to work on one’s relationship with art making and an art therapist will ensure that frustrations and apprehension is taken into consideration.

Myth #2 – Art therapists are not real therapists.

An art therapist is a trained psychotherapist who specialises in the use of art making and the creative process. Art therapists undergo similar training to other types of “talk therapists” but have additional training in using art within therapy.

Myth #3 – Art therapists will know all about you by interpreting the artwork.

The meaning of the artwork is derived directly from the individual, their personal associations and feelings. Art therapists are there to help the individual to achieve a greater understanding and consider multiple meaning within the artwork.

Myth #4 – Art therapy is only for children.

People of all ages, mental and physical abilities can benefit from Art Therapy. It is a practice that goes beyond rationalisations, tap into the unconscious and shed light on things an individual may not be able to express verbally. It is a way to gain greater self-awareness or relieve stress.

Myth #5 – Art Therapy is only for people who cannot communicate.

While Art Therapy is commonly used with young children or disabled adults who may have difficulty communicating in a traditional therapy environment, people of all ages can benefit from Art Therapy. Even educated adults may have trouble articulating their feelings and thoughts, and art can be an effective outlet for them.

Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy utilising creative modalities, including visual art-making, drama, and dance/movement, within a therapeutic relationship to improve and inform physical, mental and emotional well-being.